I'll Do Anything (Fire)

(NUUUUU *cry*)

After a few moments, Robinclaw poked her head into the apprentices' den, swiftly withdrawing it when she saw Thornpaw. But, she cautiously poked it in again, quietly beckoning for him to come, her eyes pleading.

(sure! And I have to log off after this post, just fyi)

Thornpaw grumbled in his sleep in the apprentice's den, having a nightmare. The same one he'd been having since that fateful day. Suddenly, he let out a blood-curdling shriek and his head popped up, staring around wildly, and his ears flattened when he realized what happened. What if someone had heard that?

Robinclaw stared after the young tom, agony pulsing through her and robbing her of breath. Not so much because she hadn't had anyone hate her before, but because she also felt she could have saved Stormshade. She should have saved him. 

(Time skip maybe a week?)

"You're lying!" he cried out, shaking his head. He stormed out from where they were sitting, clawing the ground up and causing dirt to fly everywhere. "I think you should've saved him, Robinclaw. I hate you."

Robinclaw shrank back. "No! I swear by StarClan that I didn't!" She cried, pain ripping through her as she was accused of willfully letting someone die. She would never do that, not even if it was a DarkClan cat. She just couldn't.

Thornpaw continued to state straight at her. "But that can't be right!" he objected, confused. "Even if all that's true, why didn't you just push the other warrior out of the way?" He drew his lips back in a snarl. "Did you want my father to die?"

Robinclaw kept her gaze down, not looking at him. "We were fighting together. We had just forced two warriors over the border when a third jumped him from behind. One of the warriors we had been fighting attacked me, the other attacked him. I was pushed away from him. I'm sorry, Thornpaw."

"Robinclaw," he began slowly, sitting down and eyeing her, "what happened? How did he die?" He kept his voice quiet and constant.

Robinclaw stopped, waiting for the apprentice. Her head low, eyes downcast, shoulders slumping. "Okay," she whispered, figuring he probably wanted to rage at her. Which, in her mind, she fully deserved.

Thornpaw awoke, his eyes flashing open as Robinclaw began walking away, and he let out a whimper. He stood and walked after her, head down. "Robinclaw, could we please talk?"

Robinclaw slowly crept forward once the apprentice fell asleep, her ears flat against her head as she gazed down at the body with sorrowful eyes. Briefly pushing her nose into the dead tom's fur, she then backed away again, giving others space.

Eventually, Thornpaw fell asleep from the exhaustion of battle and grief, and cats began to circle through to say good-bye and nuzzle the unconscious apprentice.

Robinclaw wanted to join Thornpaw but she feared he would lash out at her, so she stayed in the shadows at the edge of camp. Her miserable golden gaze was on the grieving Thornpaw and the body of his dead father.

Once they reached the camp, Thornpaw set the body down, shaking uncontrollably. "I should've been there," he whispered, and he buried his face into his father's flank, his sobs echoing around the clearing. He wanted someone to sit by him and grieve with him, but the other cat's stayed away, scared of how the fierce apprentice would react.

Robinclaw flattened her ears, trailing at the back of the patrol as they started to make their way back to camp. Her gaze was fixed on her paws the entire way, her tail dragging in the dirt and leaving a furrow. She felt guilty, so guilty. She should have stayed by Stormshade. Few cats could take on two warriors from the brutal DarkClan by themselves.

He shot up a glare at the she-cat. "Shut up," he growled, ignoring the words of warning to not say anything he'd regret from other members of the patrol. He lifted Stormshade onto his back and began carrying him back, his legs buckling under the weight.

Robinclaw backed away, tears welling up in her eyes. "I-" she didn't know what to say. She had already said sorry, what else could she say? It wouldn't make up for anything.

"He-he's not dead," he whispered, and moved his gaze back to his father. He padded to his and nuzzled his neck. "See? I can see him breathing..." he lied, feeling tears dripping down his cheek and onto the dead warrior's fur.

Robinclaw stared down at the body of the senior warrior, her entire body tense. Slowly looking up, she met Thornpaw's gaze, her golden eyes wide and horrified. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't-I thought he would be okay."

Thornpaw yowled after them, grinning triumphantly. They had won! The territory was still theirs. He padded back and noticed a motionless shape on the ground, and when he gazed around, confused, he saw Robinclaw staring at the shape in horror, and he felt a cold chill sweep through him.

They had just forced the two enemies over the border when a third leaped on Stormshade. This distraction allowed one of the Warriors to attack Stormshade as well, while the other fought Robinclaw with renewed strength and skill. Fighting with everything she had, the young she-cat was still forced to give ground, only finding the strength to knock him away and run to Stormshade when the older tom gave a bone-chilling screech of agony. It was like this was a signal, for every enemy then turned and retreated, following their leader. After spitting at them, of course.

Thornpaw yowled in triumph as he clawed another apprentice across the face, watching the tom go screeching back to his own territory. Panting, he turned and began looking at all the fights going on.

The noise and smell of battle rose up around Robinclaw as she fought alongside Stormshade, working with the senior warrior to drive back a pair of enemy Clan cats.

Name: Thornpaw
Rank: Apprentice
Age: 8 Moons
Gender: Tom
Appearance: Stocky, short-furred tom with curved, slim muscles and white fur and blue eyes.
Other: His mother died after giving birth to him and his only littermate, but that littermate died as an apprentice. So Thornpaw is extremely close to his father, Stormshade.

Name: Robinclaw
Rank: Warrior
Age: 13 moons
Gender: She-cat
Appearance: A slim, short-furred she-cat with classically beautiful features and brown fur. She has white speckles on her muzzle and piercing golden eyes.
Other: She was born in a litter of four, but her only brother was stillborn and one of her sisters left the Clan when she was an apprentice. Her last sister is still there, however.